State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 700 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

State of Michigan Retirement System lowered its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 69,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $29,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,068,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,782,984 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,208,368 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,168,737,000 after acquiring an additional 31,459 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,895,518,000 after acquiring an additional 988,380 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,155,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $913,334,000 after acquiring an additional 160,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,063,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $874,473,000 after acquiring an additional 107,544 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE stock opened at $465.37 on Tuesday. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $515.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $457.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $427.33. The company has a market cap of $126.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on DE shares. StockNews.com lowered Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $457.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.